Raven Oak's Blog, page 73

Happy Birthday & Updates!

Today my wonderful husband turns 37. His grandmother asked us today how we got to that age already. Good question… 36 didn’t feel all that different from 20 really.

Image from ThinkGeek’s Blog

So Happy Birthday to him!

We’re having a fairly quiet day with probably lots of episodes of Doctor Who since our Wii-U got delayed by UPS. *sigh*

(That is an awesome set of cakes by the way. Holy cow!)

But It’s also that time of the month where I’ve updated the What I’m Reading, What I’m Writing, What I’m Pl...

Guest Post on Dialogue

I’ve got a writing/craft related guest post on dialogue over on Trollking.co.uk. The article’s called Siri-ous Dialogue & focuses on how dialogue can help push action forward. Quite a bit on show vs. tell as that goes hand-in-hand with dialogue & action. Of course, the entire article carries my wry sense of humor, so head over to author & book reviewer Noor’s website and check it out:

http://trollking.co.uk/2014/12/08/siri-ous-dialogue/

Happy Writing!

The post Guest Post on Dialogue appeared fir...

Monday Night Gaming: Pandemic!

This week’s Monday Night Gaming: Pandemic!

Image from Amazon.com. Click to view larger.

Pandemichas to be one of the most awesome and yet overpriced games I’ve ever seen. The game itself it fairly simple in regards to parts–it’s certainly not Eclipse level with a million pieces–yet every time I’ve looked at it on Amazon, it’s been $60.

EDIT: Of course, now that I go look for this article, it’s listed at $32. I guess they’ve re-released it or something. Well, if you need this game, go get it now...

Flashback Friday: Rocheworld

For this week’s Flashback Friday post, I’m honored to have educator and writer, CJ Record, here to do a guest post on what speculative fiction novel influenced him as a writer.

I’ve been chewing on science fiction novels since I could start selecting my own books from the library. The Scholastic Book Sales lady smiled when she saw me coming. So when Raven asked on Twitter: “What SF/F novels from childhood influenced your writing?” I had an actual dilemma: what to choose?

I mean, there are the c...

Book Cover Throwback: Doomsday Book

This week’s Book Cover Throwback: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

Not only is this an EXCELLENT book, but it’s in my top five favorite books of all time. Love this book. Makes me completely rethink the bubonic plague.

To see other Book Cover Throwbacks, click here.

The post Book Cover Throwback: Doomsday Book appeared first on Raven Oak.

Amaskan’s Blood Contest

Adelei–member of the Order of Amaska and main character in Amaskan’s Blood–invites you to face the trials. Test your contest entering ability now for a chance to win one of nine prizes! Open to US and Canadian residents only. Enter to win theAmaskan’s Blood contest below. Earn additional entries in the contest by passing the trials below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Amaskan’s Blood Contest appeared first on Raven Oak.

Monday Night Gaming: Boss Monster

This week’s Monday Night Gaming: Boss Monster: The Dungeon Building Card Game + its expansion (Tools of Hero-Kind).

New card. Check out how you can get it (and others) here.

The first time we played this, there was no expansion set–only the base game. My husband and I were both drawn to it because of its 8-bit style and its tribute to old dungeon crawler games from our youth. In the base game, players compete to build a side-scrolling dungeon. Rather than playing the hero, you play the villain....

Scrivener Saturday #5

This week’sScrivener Saturday is on Revision Mode, which has more purposes than just revision.

The Revision Process according to Patrick Rothfuss

TIP #5: To get to revision mode, go to Format–>Revision Mode, and then choose a revision level (first, second, third, fourth, or fifth). The purpose of this mode is to track changes to your manuscript based on which revision your in.

For example, my first draft–all text is black. When I go through the first revision, anything I add or change, turns to...

Flashback Friday: To Kill a Mockingbird

This week’s Flashback Friday: To Kill A Mockingbird.

It’s a holiday week, so I’m breaking the rules a bit. Instead of a Flashback Friday on a work of SF/F, I’m going to do one on my favorite non-SF/F novel: To Kill A Mockingbird.

Still relevant today.

I read a post on Wednesday where the writer talked about how fighting for what is right and just in the world, doesn’t always make one popular. In fact, you’ll usually lose friends in the process. That same idea is one of the things that drove the...

Thankful

Instead of a Book Cover Throwback for this Thursday, I’m posting my thoughts on Thanksgiving as today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.

This is me on my 9th? Birthday.

Thanksgivings as a child were odd to me, as were most holidays. My father was a single parent, and we lived far away from his family in Michigan. We were also dirt poor, so flying or even driving up there from Florida or Texas was a big deal.

The majority of my holidays were spent alone in an apartment with my father, wishing I had a bi...